A Thousand Pictures, A Dozen Words
by S2 Intelligence
Summary: I never go back on my word, Tails, you know that! So can I hold you to yours? [Sonic and Tails brotherly, implied character death, no pairings, general, SEGAverse]


**_So I've gotten back into the habit of writing oneshots instead of working on my planned multi-chap fics (LM and others). And this came out, somehow. Heh._**

**_Disclaimer: I'm about to join a street protest on government budget cuts and the like – obviously, I can't own Sonic and company and franchise. Let's leave the legal issues to Sega, shall we?_**

**_Warning: Implied character death. _****_Second attempt at fluff, or something similar to that._****_ Yeah, whatever, just read on. Enjoy._**

* * *

_"Tails?" he asked uncertainly._

_"Sonic!" the young fox exclaimed, tackling him in a hug. "Morning, Sonic!...what's wrong?"_

_He shook his head, forcing a smile on his face. "There's something we need to talk about, buddy…"_

_He tilted his head to the side cutely. "Whadda we have to talk about?"_

_"Ugh…I need you to promise me something."_

_Eyes widening in excitement, he immediately exclaimed "Sure, Sonic! Anything."_

_The hedgehog smiled at his enthusiasm, glad that he didn't seem to pick up on his earlier apprehension. He led his brother to the couch, where they sat down facing each other._

_"I want you to promise me not to change, buddy, ever. Promise me that you'll continue going on, having fun, making the most out of everything you have, got it?"_

_Excitement gone, he scrunched up his brows in confusion at the odd request. "Huh?"_

_"Just promise me, kiddo. You probably won't understand until your older, but I want to know – no, I need to know – that you'll have a good life in the future."_

_Still not understanding but wanting to please his brother, Tails nodded vigorously, bouncing where he sat. "M'kay, Sonic, I promise! You can count on me."_

_Studying his face, Sonic held out his right hand, his last finger sticking out as he had a sly look on his face. "Pinky-promise?"_

_With a huge grin, the five year old held his own hand out in the same position and met the other's. "Pinky-promise!"_

_When they had shook, Sonic stood up and gave him his trademark grin and thumbs up. "Thanks, buddy! I needed that."_

_"No problem, Sonic!" He said, jumping up too to follow his brother. "Besides, that won't be too hard, as long as you're with me, right?"_

_With a smile, he turned back to ruffle his hair. "Every step of the way, bro. I'll always be there, every step of the way."_

* * *

The teenage fox stared at the photo in his hand, the one that he kept in his room for as long as he could remember. Although the tears in his eyes blurred his vision, he could still make out the image of the smiling blue hedgehog with one arm around a four year old Tails' shoulders, his other arm stretched out, holding the camera.

It was the first photo out of many they had ever taken together, only one week after Sonic had adopted him as his brother and took him into his own home. Sonic had immediately given him a copy to remind him that he and Tails were tight, and that nothing was ever going to separate them.

He never included death to that list.

The sound of Amy's voice from outside and the hard banging of his front door made itself known to him, but just like every other time someone came to tell him to open up, he ignored it, instead walking over to _his_ room, the only place he ever found comfort the past few days. It was the only place that he could feel _him_ again.

Although the faded blue walls and bare room was nothing like his loud, confident-to-the-point-of-arrogant brother, the large window that let the wind blow inside was the closest thing he had that reminded him of his brother, aside from the picture he clutched in his hand. Aside from that, the only other thing in his room was his bed and mattress.

Sitting at its foot, the tears that never ceased started pouring down his face again with renewed vigor, and he buried his head in his arms, letting go of the photo. Bringing his knees close, he curled himself into a ball, wishing for the soft embrace of comfort his brother would never give him again.

It was a strong, warm breeze from the open window that finally made him lift his head up to see the gentle light that came with a new day. He had not realized that he had fallen asleep on the floor, and stretched accordingly to get a sense of comfort back into his body. However, his heart and mind sought the same security, and the only way he could grant them that was to see his brother again. Or at least an image of him.

Searching around desperately, he could not find it anywhere on the floor and tried the only other place it might've fluttered to. Reaching an arm under his brother's bed, he tried to get a feel for a piece of paper, but instead felt something hard and metallic.

Out of curiosity, he pulled it out, confused. The reason Sonic kept such a bare room was because he didn't have anything that belonged to him, personally. He didn't believe in material wealth, so most of what he owned was on the basis of necessity and survival, and those that weren't were shared with Tails or any of his friends. To find that he had been keeping something hidden under his bed was strange if not suspicious.

It was a small, metal box, only big enough to fit a chaos emerald, perhaps two. It seemed to be pretty old, as the easy-to-open lock was covered in rust, as well as the hinges on one side. Had Tails been any other person Sonic knew when he was alive, they would have left it alone, allowing whatever secret it held to be taken to his grave.

But Tails had known Sonic the longest and loved him the dearest, so he did not hesitate to pry open the box, which finally gave way with a creak. With only the slightest bit of apprehension, he lifted the lid up…

…to find several pieces of paper scattered within, filling the box to the brim. The pieces of white parchment were identical in size and shape and seemed to look brand new, as if they had never been tampered with, except for something written on the back of each one.

Picking one up, he read:

'_I'm always going to be here for you.'_

It was in Sonic's large, loopy but heartwarmingly familiar handwriting, and he could not help himself from shedding a few tears, knowing that he was the one being addressed at the time it was written. Even in his death, his big brother was still looking out for him.

Selecting another one up, he read…the exact same message.

Confused, he picked another one, then another, then another, until he had taken all of them out by the bunch, spreading them across the floor. Each one contained the same message in the same writing, and there seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands on the floor.

Bewildered by his brother's 'hidden' possession, Tails let go of the one paper he was holding, allowing it to flutter down into the center of the pile, turning over…

…to reveal a photo. Of the two of them, specifically. It was a fairly new one, taken just months before on one of their crazy trips aboard the Tornado in search of adventure.

Startled, he started turning all the other pieces of paper over, only to find that each repeated message revealed a different time, a different scene, a different photo. There was one when they were in that interstellar amusement park, another was when they visited planet Gaea after his werehog incident, another was when it was raining outside and they had to stay indoors and play board games for the day and…

…and each one was a picture of _them_: Sonic and Tails. Best friends. Brothers.

Of all the things Sonic had kept with him in his own room, it was a compilation _their_ moments together, all the good memories and fun times _they_ had. This was the one thing he treasured the most.

He started sobbing quietly where he sat as he stared at each picture, at each memory they had together. They were what would fill his days with smiles and laughter, everything that he would keep close to his heart. But these were the things he would never experience again, the joy of having his brother by his side. To know that he would have to go through the rest of his life without them…was heart wrenching.

As he started to dig deeper and deeper into the pile, he finally arrived at the last one, the one that would've been sitting at the bottom. Unlike the others, however, the picture was faced up and with a sharp intake of breath, he realized it was the same photo he had kept so dear in his own room, the very first picture they had taken together.

Turning it over, in the same handwriting as the rest, it read:

'_You promised me, Tails.'_

And then, finally, he remembered, all those years ago: His promise to live his life to the fullest, saying that so long as Sonic would be with him, he would do it.

'_You promised me, Tails. I'm always going to be here for you.'_

The sound of loud banging brought him out of his thoughts, and he yelped in surprise. Listening carefully, he could make out the voice of Knuckles, hollering for him from the outside.

"Open up, Tails!" He said in a voice that was much louder and desperate than Amy's from the day before. "I didn't want to have to come to you, but it's an emergency!"

A warm but strong wind blew from the window, making the pictures scatter in the room. Not wanting to lose them, he quickly placed them back into the metal container, turning it onto its cover's side to reveal his brother's name written on the top.

Wiping the tears from his face, he rushed to open the door, where Knuckles still had a fist raised to knock at the door again.

"Tails!" He exclaimed, staring at him. "…I didn't think you'd answer."

"Hey, Knuckles." He said casually with a small smile, then asked with a serious tone. "What's the emergency?"

"Eggman's attacking Station Square!" He yelled after shaking his head to get back into focus. "The whole gang's on their way to stop him, even Shadow, but the bot's wired into – hey!"

The door slammed in his face, leaving him stunned. But before he could react or knock again, it quickly opened and Tails rushed out, passed him, and headed in the direction of his workshop.

"Come on!" He yelled at the echidna over his shoulder. "We'll get there faster in the Tornado."

A warm wind picked up behind him, ruffling his fur, and he smiled. Sonic always kept his word, in everything and through everything. As he felt the strong breeze push him forward, he silently repeated his promise, knowing that it was one that he would never turn his back on, ever. For Sonic.

* * *

**_Whaddaya think? I haven't been writing Sonic stories enough to say that I'm good at it, so I guess I'm looking for a little feedback on each story, this one included. Bad, good…? You know the drill. But it's up to you if you wanna review or whatever, don't say I'm forcing you._**

**_Thanks for taking the time to read this, assuming you did. xD Hopefully I'll get to write more. S2 out. :)_**


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